Sunday, November 18, 2007

Penelope Kake

Just after we returned to repopulate New Orleans in November '05, we celebrated my friend Penelope's 4th birthday. I made her this cake:Penelope's 4th birthday cake: double layer chai cake with buttercream, frosted cookies and carageenan monster lollipops.Last year she asked me to make her another one, something came up and I couldn't do it. I felt so bad, I thought she would forget about it, but she didn't. She's been asking me for another cake ever since.

So today, we celebrated her sixth birthday. I decided to make her a massive chocolate cherry cake.The pictures don't showcase the cake so well, but here's what I did. I made 1 1/2 times the recipe for chocolate cake and mixed chocolate chips into the batter along with both vanilla and cherry extracts. I baked two 9" cakes and a small heart shaped cake (I have a great tin from my Grandma Hannah). I cut each layer in half, including the heart, and spread a thick layer of black cherry jam. Then I whipped up a regular buttercream, but with unsweetened almond milk, more cherry extract and wilton food coloring and frosted the whole thing.Penelope Kake, in action.

For decoration, I rolled out a huge gumdrop shaped heart for the top and used jelly bellys, gelatin free gumdrops, twizzlers and dumdums.Disguised birthday girl, makes six!

My heart is still pumping crazy from the sugar rush, two hours after eating--I feel sorry for all the parents. The kids were freakin' out and grabbing candy off the cake before we could shoo them off. ha.

Somebody needs to make you a super awesome badass cake for your b-day, kittee! You make the coolest cakes. I would've been so jazzed to get that as a kid. Heck- maybe even moreso now cause I know how much work goes into it!)